Tell President Obama to protect the Arctic Ocean from oil contamination

Alaska's Arctic Ocean is home to populations of wild polar bears and other endangered species.

jidanchaomian, flickr

Alaska's Arctic Ocean is a rich and sensitive habitat that is home to polar bears, whales, walruses and seals. If a major oil spill were to occur here, it would devastate the remaining ecosystems that allow these already threatened animals to survive in the wild.

But sadly, the oil industry’s efforts to drill on the outer continental shelf seem to be advancing through the federal review and permitting process.

If drilling is permitted in the Arctic Ocean, there is little that can be done to stop this region from becoming a significant contributor to climate change.

The Beaufort and Chukchi seas of the Arctic Ocean are some of the most remote and forbidding drilling environments in the world, and the oil industry simply does not have the technology to recover meaningful amounts of oil spilled in icy, stormy waters. Unless you help stop them, oil companies will likely be allowed to drill in these formidable seas.

A large, long-lasting and powerful cyclone churned over the Arctic in early August 2012, which formed from two smaller systems that occupied much of the Beaufort-Chukchi Sea. Photo: NASA Goddard

Help prevent a potential oil spill catastrophe by taking action now and encouraging President Obama to make protection of the Arctic Ocean part of his presidential legacy.

Leads and cracks in the ice cover of the Beaufort-Chukchi sea. Photo: NASA Earth Observatory

Please make your voice heard, and tell President Obama that the Arctic Ocean is too special to sacrifice for oil and that preventing drilling provides a clear way for America to be a leader in fighting climate change.

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